Klopp: "We Can do Better"

With their exciting win against Audi Cup hosts Bayern Munich on Tuesday, Liverpool are one game away from winning that coveted preseason double before the start of the season. Goals from Sadio Mané, Mohamed Salah, and Daniel Sturridge entertained the Reds fans and ensured that they would get to face Atletico Madrid in Wednesday’s Audi Cup final.

Despite the hype, the boss said after the game that there’s still work to do before his team is ready to take on Watford for the season opener.

"Not quite as positive [as others]," was Klopp’s assessment to the official site, "because [although] I saw that we won [and] nearly everything was super, we're still in preparations and we have to think about what we have to do that helps us for all games.

"We haven't played enough football so far and Bayern had too much possession. We scored twice but gave [the ball] to Bayern and had to run around too much. My team showed how well they can play football - the third goal was great, it was a really good move in attack. In the first half we played very well on the counter, defensive pressing was very good. If you look at the intensity of the training in the last few days, it was very good."

Klopp was right that Bayern had the bulk of the possession, particularly in the second half when Liverpool already had a 2-0 lead over the home team. And while Bayern did very little with the ball, barely threatening Loris Karius’s goal the whole night, the drop in intensity by the Reds in the last 45 minutes will be something for Klopp to work on over the next two weeks.

"As a manager, I look at that, and maybe it's [because of] tiredness that it hasn't been 100 per cent," Klopp continued, "but I see that we're getting there. We have really trained a lot around these games and it's not that we're fresh for the preparation games. I'm quite satisfied with how they've played but I think we can do better."

After the string of good results so far this preseason, along with the return of key figures like Sadio Mané, Emre Can, and Daniel Sturridge to the squad, and the impressive early performances from new signings Mohamed Salah and Dominic Solanke, the prospect of what "better" might look like is very exciting.